Neutrinos are some of the lightest and most abundant elementary particles in our universe. Yet observing them is extremely difficult because of their low probability of interacting with matter.
To meet this major challenge, the IceCube Collaboration, led by Francis Halzen, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison but born in Tienen in Belgium and an alumnus of the University of Louvain, is piloting a gigantic telescope buried in the ice of the South Pole. At a depth of more than 1,500 metres, 5,160 sensors, the eyes of the telescope, are distributed over 86 vertical cables forming detection lines.
Thanks to this system, 10 years ago IceCube discovered the first high-energy astrophysical neutrinos and was able to identify the first sources of neutrinos in our universe: blazars or other active galactic nuclei... what do they have in common? A super-massive black hole accreting matter around it! But the mystery remains, and neutrino astronomy is still in its infancy. Researchers in Professor Gwenhaël Wilberts Dewasseige's team at IRMP are involved in the two largest neutrino telescopes built to date: IceCube and KM3NeT, its cousin in the Mediterranean.
So how big does IceCube have to be to be able to observe these elusive neutrinos? The size of Louvain-la-Neuve!
Through the ‘Neutrino in the Streets’ project, we invite you to discover the signature of one of the most energetic neutrinos ever captured by IceCube. Look out for the coloured discs and use your phone or tablet to plunge into the heart of the polar ice to observe a neutrino with your own eyes!
We would like to extend our warmest thanks to the Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve municipality, which has made this project possible.
Start date: 3 October 2024
Location: In the streets of Louvain-la-Neuve
